BC's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 72
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BC’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2025)
Building big ships and big dreams at Seaspan
T
homas Finn, a
structural engineer
in training with
Seaspan Shipyards,
first became interested
in boats when he was a teenager.
Growing up in the Lower
Mainland, he took sailing lessons
for two summers. That fascination
grew during a summer internship
with a boat-building company
while he was completing his BSc.
And it was in full sail by the time
he completed his master’s degree
in naval architecture and marine
engineering at the University of
British Columbia.
His nearly four years working
full-time for Seaspan Shipyards
in North Vancouver have been a
dream come true, he says. “The
fact that we’re actually building
something, and to get to see it go
from what’s on paper as a concept
to actually seeing it built, is pretty
exciting.
“The other thing is just the sheer
magnitude and size of the ships,
like the Joint Support Ship for the
Royal Canadian Navy, which I was
very involved with and is almost
as long as two football fields,” he
continues. “When you’re down on
the production floor and see how
big a vessel is, there's a great sense
of accomplishment and pride
about all of the work that went
into it.”
Under Canada’s National
Shipbuilding Strategy, Seaspan
is now the country’s long-term,
strategic partner for building
large, non-combat vessels for the
navy and the Canadian Coast
Guard (CCG), notes Jamie Rogers,
director of talent and global
mobility.
Newer Seaspan Shipyard
projects for the coast guard
include the recently launched
Offshore Oceanographic Science
Vessel CCGS Naalak Nappaaluk,
which will support research on
ocean currents and the seabed
in Atlantic Canada, and a new
Canadian Polar Icebreaker, which
will support multiple missions,
year-round, in the North.
“The exciting thing about
us,” says Rogers, “is that we are
re-energizing and rebuilding the
Canadian shipbuilding industry.
We’re creating a talent pool and
opportunities for Canadians to
design and build ships right here
in Canada.”
Finn is buoyed by his sizeable
company’s contribution to the
country’s economy as well as the
important role its ships play, and
will continue to play in various
missions.
He is currently working on
multipurpose vessels (MPVs)
for the coast guard, which will
perform icebreaking in moderate
conditions, scientific research,
environmental response and
deployment of buoys, among
other tasks. The MPVs will operate
on the east and west coasts of
Canada, the St. Lawrence area
and the Western and Low Arctic
during the summer months.
When you’re down on the
production floor and you
see how big a vessel is,
there's a great sense of
accomplishment and pride
about all of the work that
went into it.
— Thomas Finn
Structural Engineer II,
Engineer in Training
Employees at Seaspan benefit from a progressive work environment that offers generous benefits and
initiatives focused on health and safety.
Among the many other things
Finn appreciates about Seaspan is
its emphasis on employee development, which has benefited him.
Rogers is particularly proud of the
company’s training opportunities.
“We have initiatives starting at
the student level and then strong
talent-development programs and
career pathways,” he says. “So,
there are opportunities for our
employees to develop and move
into other areas.”
Seaspan Shipyards also carries
out repairs and retrofits for large
commercial cruise ships and BC
Ferries, doing so at its Victoria
